cleanse
Americanverb (used with object)
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cleanses,
present (3rd person singular)
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cleansed,
past participle, past
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cleansing
present participle
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to make clean.
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to remove by or as if by cleaning.
to cleanse sin from the soul.
verb (used without object)
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cleanses,
present (3rd person singular)
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cleansed,
past participle, past
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cleansing
present participle
verb
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to remove dirt, filth, etc, from
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to remove guilt from
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to remove a group of people from (an area) by means of ethnic cleansing
Synonym Usage
See clean.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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recleanseverb (used with object)
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cleansableadjective
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uncleansableadjective
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uncleansedadjective
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well-cleansedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cleansesimple
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cleansessimple
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have cleansedperfect
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has cleansedperfect
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am cleansingprogressive
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are cleansingprogressive
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is cleansingprogressive
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have been cleansingperfect progressive
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has been cleansingperfect progressive
Past
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cleansedsimple
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had cleansedperfect
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was cleansingprogressive
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were cleansingprogressive
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had been cleansingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cleanse
before 900; Middle English clensen, Old English clǣnsian, equivalent to clǣne clean + -si- v. suffix + -an infinitive suffix
Vocabulary lists containing cleanse
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The author also contends that recessions don’t cleanse or restructure economies, the way wildfires clear forests of their dead wood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Once, they brought in a shaman to cleanse the house with sage and cedar during a full blood moon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
“No power, no justification, and no time can cleanse this great tragedy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
"For the rivers within us flow with ease, fears washed away, cleanse and purify. Come to peace with our tears and discover what it means to be alive," she says.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
The rest of us were left to find fountains to cleanse the grime and dust from our travels before entering the holy city.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
It was just out of earshot from Oz nodding along to musings on how “sleep is when the brain cleanses itself.”
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
Bertollini said she is skeptical of cleanses marketed for large numbers of people that are used in a “preventative” way without confirming that they have a parasite in the first place.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
I explore “Why not both?’” since water cleanses us — not just physically but spiritually, emotionally and mentally.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
Pilgrims bathe in these rivers, believing the ritual cleanses their sins and brings them closer to spiritual liberation.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2025
Something about it, though, cleanses everything that’s crowding my mind.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
Maybe it’s because he was lucky enough to have his footprint cleansed a bit.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Thus cleansed of expectation, you move through a series of smaller, even intimate spaces in which you are given free access to a literal universe of biological data.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
She feels cleansed by the sea and the fog that shrouds the world’s ugliness, and believes there is happiness to be salvaged from the wreckage of her past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
“That cleansed the space of a lot of weaker companies,” he says.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2025
“And that was only water and a blade. Think what you might become if you were cleansed of thirteen years of dirt, neglect, and servitude.”
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
The prayer service being held at the Tsadqane Debre Mitmaq St Mary Monastery included a holy water cleansing ritual that is popular among Orthodox Christians seeking spiritual healing for chronic illnesses.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
They are also investigating whether trees have adapted to tolerate or even take advantage of this process, and whether the resulting atmospheric cleansing benefits forest ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 21, 2026
Blankfein added that the long period without a financial crisis cleansing process meant ”you accumulate tinder on the floor of the forest and eventually a spark will come.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 26, 2026
It’s cathartic and cleansing, and sometimes I see dolphins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2026
I’m hustling to English, hoping my quick work with a cleansing wipe was good enough to wipe off my PE sweat, when I see a bunch of guys around the trash can outside the cafeteria.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
